Means for applying coverings to the walls and ceiling of a room



Aprig W67 M. GOLDSTEIN 3,315,428

MEANS FOR APPLYING COVERINGS TO THE WALLS AND CEILING OF A ROOM Filed July 6, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. MALCOLM GOLDSTEIN A TTORNEY P 25, 1967 M. GOLDSTEIN MEANS FOR APPLYING COVERINGS TO THE WALLS AND CEILING OF A ROOM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2,

Filed July 6, 1964 INVENTOR. MAL COLM GOLDSTE IN ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,315,428 MEANS FOR APPLYING CUVERINGS TO THE WALLS AND CEKLING OF A RUOM Malcolm Goldstein, 45 Kew Gardens Road, Kew Gardens, NY. 11415 Filed July 6, 1964, Ser. No. 380,479 7 Claims. (Cl. 52278) The present invention relates to the application of coverings upon the walls and ceiling of a room.

Heretofore wall and ceiling coverings have been manufactured which require great dexterity in the application thereof to walls and ceilings. These present day coverings usually require the use of paste in one form or another and usually become very messy since the paste has tendency to stick to an individuals fingers during the application of said coverings to walls and ceilings. Another difficulty encountered with present day wall and ceiling coverings is that more than one persons time and energy are usually required to properly apply said covermgs.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide means for easily and quickly applying coverings to the walls and ceiling of a room.

It is a more particular object of the present invention to apply a wall covering to a wall by the use of grooved channel members attached to said wall and tongued channel members attached to said wall covering.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a ceiling covering which forms a dropped-ceiling.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a ceiling covering formed of sheets of rigid vinyl plastic material.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a ceiling covering formed of substantially rigid vinyl plastic sheets having metal stripping attached thereto for interconnecting said sheets and for securing said covering with respect to said ceiling.

It is yet a further object of the present invention to enable a home owner or other non-professional having minimal dexterity to quickly and easily attach a covering to the walls and ceiling of a room without the mess of paste.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a partial elevational view, in section, of a covering applied to a wall and a covering applied to a ceiling in accordance with the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a bottom view of the ceiling covering of FIGURE 1 showing the visible surface of said ceiling covering.

FIGURE 3 is a top view of the ceiling covering of FIGURE 1 showing the hidden surface of said ceiling covering.

FIGURE 4 is a top view of one of the sheets used to form the ceiling covering of the present invention.

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of a support member which is used to secure said ceiling covering with respect to the ceiling.

FIGURE 6 is a partial elevational view, in section, of a covering applied to a wall in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings, FIGURE 1 depicts a wall 10 having a concavely grooved channel member 12 attached thereto by means of a strip of double-coated adhesive tape 14, said member 12 extending horizontally along the entire width of said wall and positioned vertically downward from the ceiling 16. A convexly grooved channel member 18 is attached to the wall 10 by another strip of said double coated adhesive tape and is vertically positioned slightly above the floor 20, said member 18 also extending horizontally along the entire width of the wall 10.

A sheet of wall covering material 22 has a first tongued channel member 24 attached thereto at the top end thereof, and a second tongued channel member 26 attached thereto at the bottom end thereof; said members 24 and 26 being attached to said wall covering sheet by doublecoated adhesive tape strips 14. The wall covering sheet 22 is secured with respect to said wall 10 by placing the downwardly projecting tongue portion of said member 14 into the concavely grooved channel 12 and placing the upwardly projecting tongue portion of said member 26 into said convexly grooved channel member 18. The wall covering is formed of a plurality of sheets, such as sheet 22, which are preferably made in widths of 2 or 3 feet; said sheets extending along the entire length of the wall to be covered. However, the sheets may be made in any suitable width which will facilitate the application thereof to said wall and are preferably made of vinyl plastic materials having predominantly vertical designs thereon to facilitate the matching of said sheets when applied to said wall, said sheets being applied to said wall in overlapping relationship; viz., the side edge of one of said sheets overlapping the side edge of the sheet adjacent thereto.

A ceiling covering 40 formed of a plurality of substantially rigid vinyl plastic sheets, such as sheets 42, 44 and 46, is utilized in conjunction with said concavely grooved channel member 12 to form a dropped-ceiling, in a manner to be explained in detail hereinafter.

The sheets 42, 44 and 46 have a substantially square configuration and are preferably formed having 2 or 3- foot sides; however, sheets having other suitable geometrical configurations or dimensions may also be used. The inner sheets of said ceiling covering 40, such as sheet 44, have all the corners thereof removed, thereby forming right angle recesses thereat, as clearly seen in FIGURE 4. The purpose of this construction will be explained in detail hereinafter. The outer sheets of said ceiling covering, such as sheet 42, have only the inner corners thereof removed to form right angle recesses thereat. A metal stripping 50 is attached to each side of said sheet 42 by strips of the double-coated adhesive tape 14, the outer end of said strippings having a downwardly projecting flange 52 and the inner end of said strippings having a doubled-back loop member. 54, said loop member projecting upwardly from the inner end 56 of the sheet 42 and having an inverse C-shaped portion 58 which projects longitudinally beyond said inner end 56. Another metal stripping 6% is attached to each side of the sheet 44 by strips of said double coated adhesive tape 14. One

end of said strippings 60 having a C-shaped member 62 and the other end thereof having a doubled-back loop member 64; said loop member 64 being the same as said loop member 54 of said stripping 50. The C-shaped members 62 are engaged by said inverse C-shaped portions 58, thereby securing said sheet 44 to said sheet 42; the end 66 of said sheet 44 abutting the end 56 of the sheet 42. The strippings 50 and 60 fill the right angle recessed corners of said sheets 42 and 44, respectively, forming square edges at all the corners of said sheets and permit said sheets to have their abutting ends flush with one another.

The sheet 46 is secured to sheet 44 in the same manner as was sheet 44 secured to sheet 42. The stripping 50 attached to the sheet 42 has the flange 52 thereof inserted into said concavely grooved channel member 12, thereby securing said sheet with respect to said wall 10. In order to prevent any sagging of said ceiling covering 40, Z-shaped support bars 70 having top flanges 72 and bottom flanges 74, as clearly seen in FIGURE 5, are connected to the ceiling 16 and to said ceiling covering 49. The flanges 72 are attached to said ceiling by strips of said double-coated adhesive tape and the flanges 74 are inserted into said loop members 54 and 64.

Another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated by FIGURE 6, wherein similar parts are denoted by similar reference numerals.

In this embodiment a first channel member 12' is attached to the wall It) slightly below the ceiling 1% by a.

strip of double-coated adhesive tape 14, said member 12 having an upwardly projecting flange portion 13 and extending horizontally along the entire width of said wall. A second channel member 18, which is similarly attached to said wall, is positioned slightly above the floor 2t) and extends horizontally along the entire width of said wall; said member 18 having a downwardly projecting flange portion 19'. A sheet of wall covering material 2.2 has a first channel member 24 attached thereto at the top thereof by a strip of said double-coated adhesive tape; said member 24' having a downwardly projecting flange portion 25. A second channelmember 26 is simiiarly attached to said wall covering sheet at the bottom thereof, said member 26 having an upwardly projecting flange portion 27. The flange portions 25 and 27' are engaged by said other flange portions 13' and 19', respectively; in a tongue and groove arrangement thereby securing said wall covering sheet 22' to said wall The metal strippings employed herein are preferably made of aluminum, but may be made of any other suitable metal or combination of metals.

It should be noted that for the sake of clarity, the channel members and the metal stripping have been depicted as being quite thick with respect to said wall covering sheet and said ceiling covering sheets, while in the actual practice of the invention they are relatively thin, so as to be unobstrusive.

Although I have described the present invention as hav-. ing one continuous channel member, such as members 12 and 18, attached to the wall at the top and bottom thereof, the channel members may also comprise a plurality of intermittently spaced smaller members.

It is thus seen that I have provided means for quickly and simply covering the ceiling and walls of a room and concommitantly forming a decorative dropped-ceiling.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, there are many modifications which may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Means for covering the wall and ceiling of a room, 9

including a first grooved channel'member attached to said wall at the top thereof, a second grooved channel member attached to said wall at the bottom thereof, a wall covering, a first tongued member attached to said wall covering at the top thereof, a second tongued member attached to said wall covering at the bottom thereof, said first and second tongued members being engaged by said first and second grooved members, respectively, thereby securing said wall covering to said Wall, a ceiling covering, said ceiling covering comprising a plurality of rigid substantially square sheets, a plurality of metal strinpings, said metal strippings being attached to each side of said sheets interconnecting said sheets, whereby the ends of said sheets abut one another, some of said strippings having a flange at one end thereof, said flange being inserted into said first grooved channel member for securing said ceiling covering with respect to said ceiling.

2. Means for covering the wall and ceiling of a room in accordance with claim 1, wherein said first channel member has a concave groove and said second channel member has a convex groove.

3. Means for covering the wall and ceiling of a room in accordance with claim 2, including a plurality of support members for said ceiling covering, each of said support members having a top flange and a bottom flange, said top flanges being connected to said ceiling and each of said bottom flanges being connected to one of said metal strippings, thereby securing said ceiling covering to prevent sagging thereof.

4. Means for covering the wall and ceiling of a room, including a first plurality of grooved intermittently spaced channel members attached to said wall at the top thereof, a second plurality of grooved intermittently spaced channel members attached to said wall at the bottom thereof, a wall covering, a first plurality of tongued members attached to said wall covering at the top thereof, a second plurality of tongued members attached to said Wall covering at the bottom thereof, said first and second plurality of tongued members being engaged by said first and second plurality of grooved members, respectively, thereby securing said wall covering to said wall, a ceiling covering, said ceiling covering comprising a plurality of rigid substantially square sheets, a pzurality of metal strippings, said metal strippings being attached to each side of said sheets interconnecting said sheets, whereby the ends of said sheets abut one another, some of said strippings have a flange at one end thereof, said flanges being inserted into said first grooved channel member for securing said ceiling covering with respect to said ceiling.

5. Means for covering the wall and ceiling of a room, including a first channel member attached to said wall at the top thereof, said channel member having an upwardly projecting flange forming a groove with respect to said wall, a second channel member attached to said wall at the bottom thereof, said second channel member having a downwardly projecting flange forming a groove with respect to said wall, a wall covering, a third channel member attached to said wall covering at the top thereof, said third channel member having a downwardly projecting flange forming a tongue, a fourth channel member attached to said Wall covering at the bottom thereof, said fourth channel member having an upwardly projecting flange forming a tongue said tongues of said third and fourth channel members being engaged in said grooves at the top and bottom of said wall, respectively, thereby securing said wall covering to said Wall, a ceiling covering, said ceiling covering comprising a plurality of rigid substantially square sheets, a plurality of metal strippings, said metal strippings being attached to each side of said sheets interconnecting said sheets, whereby the ends of said sheets abut one another, some of said strippings having a flange at one end thereof, said flange beinginserted into said first grooved channel member for securing said ceiling covering with respect to said ceiling.

6. Means for covering the wall and ceiling of a room in accordance with claim 1, wherein said first grooved channel member is positioned downwardly from said'ceiling, whereby'said ceiling covering forms a dropped-ceiling in said room.

'71 Means for covering the wall and ceiling of a room in accordance with claim 5, wherein said first grooved channel member is positioned downwardly from said ceiling, whereby said ceiling covering forms a dropped-ceiling in said room.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,030,135 2/1936 Carpenter 161-406 2,082,314 6/1937 Venzie 52-484 2,181,451 11/1939 Dow 52-589 2,994,113 8/1961 Dail 52-484 3,121,977 2/1964 Bersudsky 52--506 3,178,138 4/1965 Hessdoerfer 24840 3,205,628 9/1965 Frisk 52273 3,225,504 12/1965 Gregoire 52222 FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner. R. A. STENZEL, C. G. MUELLER, Assistant Examiners. 

1. MEANS FOR COVERING THE WALL AND CEILING OF A ROOM, INCLUDING A FIRST GROOVED CHANNEL MEMBER ATTACHED TO SAID WALL AT THE TOP THEREOF, A SECOND GROOVED CHANNEL MEMBER ATTACHED TO SAID WALL AT THE BOTTOM THEREOF, A WALL COVERING, A FIRST TONGUED MEMBER ATTACHED TO SAID WALL COVERING AT THE TOP THEREOF, A SECOND TONGUED MEMBER ATTACHED TO SAID WALL COVERING AT THE BOTTOM THEREOF, SAID FIRST AND SECOND TONGUED MEMBERS BEING ENGAGED BY SAID FIRST AND SECOND GROOVED MEMBERS, RESPECTIVELY, THEREBY SECURING SAID WALL COVERING TO SAID WALL, A CEILING COVERING, SAID CEILING COVERING COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF RIGID SUBSTANTIALLY SQUARE SHEETS, A PLURALITY OF METAL STRIPPINGS, SAID METAL STRIPPINGS BEING ATTACHED TO EACH SIDE OF SAID SHEETS INTERCONNECTING SAID SHEETS, WHEREBY THE ENDS OF SAID SHEETS ABUT ONE ANOTHER, SOME OF SAID STRIPPINGS HAVING A FLANGE AT ONE END THEREOF, SAID FLANGE BEING INSERTED INTO SAID FIRST GROOVED CHANNEL MEMBER FOR SECURING SAID CEILING COVERING WITH RESPECT TO SAID CEILING. 